MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin said Friday Nelson Mandela was a symbol of an entire epoch in Africa's modern history.

Expressing condolences on the death of the former South African president, Putin said Mandela, despite having been through many hardships in his life, remained faithful to the ideals of humanism and justice till the end of his days.

"His name is firmly connected to the defeat of apartheid and the building of a democratic South Africa," Putin said in an address published by the Kremlin press service.

Mandela, who served as South Africa's president from 1994 to 1999, died Thursday at the age of 95.